‘Shazam!’ Remembering when superheroes weren’t quite so cool

April 09, 2013 | 11:55 a.m.

Michael Gray as Billy Batson, left, with Jackson Bostwick, who played Captain Marvel in the original incarnation of the "Shazam!" television series, appearing as Batson's superhero alter ego for the first 17 episodes of the series (1974-75). (Warner Bros. Entertainment)

Michael Gray as Billy Batson with Jackson Bostwick, who played Captain Marvel in the original incarnation of the "Shazam!" television series, appearing as Batson's superhero alter ego for the first 17 episodes of the series (1974-75). (Warner Bros. Entertainment)

Michael Gray as Billy Batson with Les Tremayne who played Mentor, Batson's guide and companion (and driver of the RV) in "Shazam!" He would regularly explain the morals of any given situation to Billy. (Warner Bros. Entertainment)

When the CW’s breakout hit series “Arrow” returns with new episodes on April 24, viewers can expect more soapy drama mixed with dark action thrills involving Stephen Amell as the handsome playboy-turned-vigilante Oliver Queen. Though the series makes plenty of concessions for non-comic book readers (an emphasis on Queen’s dating life, for instance), there’s still plenty of comic book history on display. Characters and concepts from Green Arrow’s 70 years of history pop up, but grounded in a gritty, realistic style (a la Christopher Nolan’s take on the Batman universe).

The success of “Arrow” and its accessible take on comic canon is a reminder of how far we’ve come with superheroes on television from the days when TV producers seemed to try as hard as they could to make superheroes non-super. Consider, if you will, “Shazam!”

In 1939, Bill Parker and C.C. Beck created Captain Marvel: an imposing caped superhero graced with the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury. Whenever fresh-faced teenage newsboy Billy Batson yelled “shazam!” he’d transform into Captain Marvel, to fight mad scientists, evil robots and super-intelligent alien worms.

Then in 1974, CBS began airing the Filmation series “Shazam!” about a shaggy-haired dude in his mid-20s who traveled around in an RV with an old man, helping young people learn to resist peer pressure. Every now and then, the ’70s TV Billy (Michael Gray) would shout, “shazam!” and be replaced by a costumed beach bum with disheveled hair. (Jackson Bostwick played Captain Marvel in the original incarnation of the “Shazam!” television series, appearing as Billy Batson’s superhero alter ego for the first 17 episodes of the series; the role was then taken over by John Davey.)

So it went with superheroes on television in the ’70s—a time when incredible feats of imagination were rendered as flat and preachy as an after-school special.

The irony is this: These days, a superhero comic is considered a hit if it sells in the mid-five-figures, while major motion pictures about Batman and The Avengers—movies largely faithful to the tone and storytelling of the original comics—become record-breaking blockbusters. Yet in the ’70s, when a superhero comic that sold less than six figures was in danger of cancellation, the stars of those books typically only made it to TV heavily adulterated.

Why was this? To some extent, the dreariness of superhero TV shows in the ’70s was a case of the technology of the times being unequal to the task. On the comic book page, superheroes could fly to other galaxies and punch aliens from one side of a planet to another. That was harder to do in live-action in 1974, with no computer-aided effects to rely on. Even the costumes were hard to get right. In the ’70s “Shazam!” series, Captain Marvel looks like he’s wearing a polyester tracksuit with a matador’s cape thrown around the shoulders.

But there also seemed to be a fundamental distrust of superheroes back then, at least from the people in charge of making movies and television. Consider the campy ’60s “Batman” series, which treated the visual conventions of comics as a pop-art joke. Then there’s the early years of “Super Friends,” a cartoon version of DC’s Justice League of America that skipped all the inter-dimensional travel and cosmic super-villains of the ’70s “JLA” comics and instead just had Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman fighting pollution with the help of two teenage kids and their dog.

Because Warner Bros. owns DC, many of the major attempts to translate superheroes to television in the ’70s have made it to DVD, often via the Warner Archive service. The titles range from the excruciatingly dire, such as the 1979 wacky comedy “Legends of The Super Heroes,” to the merely mediocre, such as the 1974 TV movie version of “Wonder Woman.” All are fascinating for students of pop culture who want to chart how far certain genres have come.

Cathy Lee Crosby played title character in the 1974 TV movie “Wonder Woman.” In the film, the heroine has no superpowers, but rather is a world-traveling spy, inspired by the I Ching era of the comics. (Warner Bros.)

That Wonder Woman movie, for example—starring Cathy Lee Crosby, not Lynda Carter—is based more on the openly feminist “new look” Wonder Woman of the late ’60s, and while it’s essentially a bland secret agent adventure show with a more colorful heroine at the center, it’s notable as a case where the comics’ efforts to be modern and down-to-earth dovetailed with television’s preference for non-super superheroes.

As for “Shazam!” its kitsch value remains remarkably high. The show ran for three seasons—though only for 28 episodes, because the Saturday morning television audience back then apparently didn’t mind watching the same shows over and over—and it never changed its basic formula of having Billy and his elderly mentor drive up and down the California coast, trying to be a positive influence on young people.

The actual Captain Marvel action on the show was kept to a minimum, usually withheld until the last five minutes or so of any given episode. The rest of the half-hour was given over to simple morality tales. (One moral the show missed: Don’t get into RVs with odd-looking strangers, kids.)

The transformation of live-action superhero movies and TV shows to their current awesomeness was a slow process, helped along by the success of the 1978 “Superman” movie and the 1989 “Batman” movie, as well as by the maturation of superhero comics in the Frank Miller/Alan Moore-dominated ’80s. But just as it’s important to appreciate how far comics have come as a literary medium—with masters like Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes and the Hernandez brothers producing real works of art—it’s important for superhero fans to look back every now and then and see how much better they’re served by Hollywood now.

A few years back, Fantagraphics’ “Comics Journal Library” series published a book of old interviews with the popular comics writers of the ’70s and ’80s, and in those conversations, the likes of Dennis O’Neil, Steve Gerber and Marv Wolfman couldn’t seem to wrap their heads around the idea of graphic novels, or superhero comics of any real sophistication. These were some of the smartest writers in the business at the time, acclaimed for bringing social relevance and character depth to what were then considered stories for children, and even they put a ceiling on how good their art form could be.

It would’ve been unrealistic to expect some TV producer to have more vision for superheroes than the creator of “Howard The Duck” did.

Still, the sight of Captain Marvel awkwardly flying to a junkyard to teach a group of teens a lesson about joyriding is so sad, and so far removed from even the two-dimensional corniness of Parker and Beck, that it’s hard to believe this genre would someday evolve into Hollywood’s most reliable money-maker.

— Noel Murray

Noel Murray is an Eisner-nominated critic who writes about comics, television, music and film for The A.V. Club. He also covers home video for The Los Angeles Times.

I grew up in the 1970's and fondly remember the Cathie Lee Crosby Wonder Woman, Shazam, Isis, and the original Super Friends. And don't forget The Incredible Hulk, the short-lived Spiderman, and the Linda Carter Wonder Woman. Even then I knew they fell short of the comics, but they were the most exciting things on television to a kid growing up back then, except of course for the Six Million Dollar Man.

Ironically, I think Arrow still suffers from the same problem these shows did– too much family drama-trauma and too little super-hero action, but without the budgetary excuse. Last week's episode thankfully did not have the mother or Thea in it and focused a little more on Arrow tracking down the villain.

I loved "ISIS", "Shazam" wasn't that bad, as compared to "Captain Nice" or "Mr. Terrific"! OR "Electra Woman and Dynagirl"! All were fun watching on a Saturday or pre-prime time dinner hour. I miss that cheesy but entertaining kind of programming, as opposed to the dumb-down Saturday Cartoon/live action shows or reality garbage that cable recycles.

I personally loved Shazam, and shooting it as well. I meet people everyday that remember it and tell me just how much they enjoyed watching it, and the moral value that each episode offered. I was and still am very proud to have been a part of the show. Thanks for remembering.
Michael Gray

Shazam! was a very important show for me as a kid. The morality tales were very important. At the end of each episode, Mr. Bostwick would talk to the kids in his TV audience, not down to them. He talked to us as if we were intelligent people. Of course, the show was silly and predictable, but the budget was minuscule and you did a lot with very little.

I heard a story, by the way, that Jackson Bostwick was in line at a movie theater years after the show was off the air and who did he see in line? John Davey. Davey told Bostwick that when he took the role he asked his little boy what he thought about it. Davey's son said, "It's ok, dad. You're just filling in until the real Captain Marvel comes back."

i have missed SHAZAM for years, i never forgot about those childhood days back in the 70's and thanks to you and all who worked on the show for making such a memorable childhood to remember, i recently purhcased the DVD and i am watching it with my 13 year old step son and he "LOVES IT"
just as i did years ago, it is still fun to watch THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!!!!

Mr. Gray, nice to see your reply here. I hope all is well with you today Sir.
I have very fond memories of you on that show. Saturday mornings were not complete until seeing you utter that magical word: SHAZAM!… I get goose bumps til this very day.

I didn't like what you did to Marcia Brady! You deserved that whipped cream. All kidding aside, I loved your show. Funny how we take our magical years for granted. Life was so wonderful in the 70's. Hope all is well with you Billy…uh? …I mean Michael.

SHAZAM was cool for its time. You can't compare it to stuff today because the standards are different now. For what it's worth, the moral fiber of a single episode of SHAZAM far surpasses anything on television or in films now.

no matters the time Shazam is more creedibly than others superheroes, it's based in the theory of Quantum Mechanics, that if atom at the Big Bang behaves as its equal no matter how far has traveled it.

Wow, i actually find this article very disrespectful. Growing up in the 70s, i loved Shazam, Isis, Linda Carters Wonder Woman and Superfriends with Wendy, Marvin and wonderdog. i also think the version of Captain Marvels costume closley matches the comics version. The same can't be said for a lot of modern retellings of superheroes.

I was also raised during the seventies…and i totally loved the live action series..i have the dvd collection..and i watch it from time to time…i really do hope they make a Movie..with special effects being what they are..it would be fantastic..really depends on the budget..the Director..the story..and of course the actors..smile..

SHAZAM!, was one of the GREATEST shows and helped me become a model citizen.
Saturday Morning Cartoons concluded after SHAZAM!. Time to go outside and Play. =P
I've recently brought the DvD from Amazon. One of the best Live Action ever, Big Red Cheese and all.

The TV shows of the ’70’s, like Shazam, Wonder Woman, Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, all those were good shows that said, “yes, not only is it good to have ethics and morals, but you see super-powered beings doing it, beings who could have anything they wanted, any time.” Today’s TV programming for kids may have better “FX”, but the stories suck by comparison to the older shows. What’s so bad about actually being a good person? I think it’s a pretty damn good idea and that we need more of it. That message matters way more than special-effects ever could.

So, long live Captain Marvel, Isis, and all the rest of ’em, or at least what they stood for.

I loved Shazam so much I dressed up for my kindergarten holloween as him and one first place. Costume must have rocked cuz I won The best costume contest ( and I’m black!). But I do enjoy the modern take s on live action superhero story telling. Especially agents of shield.

I am 45 years old. I also grew up in the 70's and 80's and I was fanatical about watching SHAZAM!, and Isis on Saturday mornings. I had a huge supply of Marvel and DC Comics as did alot of kids and this superhero was one of my faves. To this day I get a kick out of catching a rebroadcast of SHAZAM! on cable and I guess I should just go ahead and buy the DVD archive. And yes, I drove my mother crazy because I had to have the 3D Picture viewer which was just a kid's version of an image projector to view slides. I loved the 3D viewing reels that you could insert, view and remove. All of my reels were SHAZAM

According to the original comic books, Billy Batson became Captain Marvel when he was given the SHAZAM power by the wizard Shazam. Has nobody figured out that Mentor was Shazam? Of course Billy could not call him that because every time he said the name there would be a bolt of lightning and he would change identities.

The author of this article is a disrespectable jerk. Must be incredibly young, not growing up with Shazam! as a fond Saturday morning memory like us 70's kids. I like a lot of the new modern adaptations of old superheroes, but they are trying to hard to please adults. Anyone remember when Superhero shows were meant for child audiences? THAT is why they were cleaner and more preachy with morals back then & not as 'edgy' as they are now. If anything today's kids could use some heavy lessons in morals.

The author of this article is being very disingenuous, all these 70's shows that a lot of people on this discussion board are mentioning actually mean something to the viewers like myself that watched them every week. They may not have the best effects but they had something that cannot be CGIed and that is a sense of heartfelt wonderment. Yes it sounds corny to all of us in this day and age, but kids (lets face it this was the target audience for most of these shows) back then and today still need that sense of wonderment when they watch a superhero show. Most kids today can't actually watch the superhero shows on the air because they are usually sexually explicit or a bit too violent, just look at the ratings to see sadly that most are TV 13 or over. The new Gotham series, which I'm very interested in watching, I know I won't be able to have my 11 or 7 year old watch, ditto for Green Arrow and maybe even the upcoming Flash.
" never changed its basic formula of having Billy and his elderly mentor drive up and down the California coast, trying to be a positive influence on young people.", the author says this as if it were a bad thing. This was a saturday morning cartoon for kids, I guess the author wanted something more gritty like having the boy curse out his parents while deciding to go to the big city and find a drug cartel dealing in underage prostitution from Taiwan, and have him shack up with one of the girls in the RV while his mentor deals with his alcoholism. And after that heartwarming episode comes a new episode of Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels.
Mr. Murray get a life.

Heaven forbid a comic book related show be aimed at children! I have no problem with more mature adaptations but I’ll always believe there’s something magical about how a child connects to these characters. SHAZAM lacked today’s special effects but it had soul.